No, it is not a typo.
As you said,
空き缶を潰す: 空き缶 (empty cans) is an object of the action, 潰す(to crush)
So you can say
Ex. この空き缶を潰してください。
Ex. 空き缶を潰してゴミとして出した。

Now, the example sentence,
空き缶は潰してからゴミとして出してください。
You can say 空き缶を潰してからゴミとして出してください。when you simply explain the procedure but when you bring up a topic and talk about it, you use は.
So the literal translation is
“As for empty cans, crush (them) before putting them out as garbage. ”

Well I want to describe the situation I read from the book where The protagonist (主人公) take the car driving by force from his friend. But I can’t find the right word.
If I ask Maggie sensei.
What is the most appropriate way to say it?

Hello,
this lesson
“How to use the particle も ( = mo) & 「一★も」 “, I understood most of It. Actually, it was pretty easy. the question is, does も can be in a (simple) present sentence or even in a negtive (simple) past sentence because I noticed the lack of the present tense examples in the lesson.
For example(I made up this sentence):
-100円もかかる。
-100円もかからなかったよ。
Thanks in advance.

There are so many ways of using 内 and 中 but which usage confuses you?
Like “among” ~?
日本の食べ物の中で何が好きですか？ (X 内）
What Japanese food do you like among all the Japanese food?
この３つの中でどれが一番好き？= この３つの内でどれが一番好き？
= Which one do you like the best among these three?

during/while
午前中は仕事をしています。（x内）
= I am working in the morning.
子供が寝ているうちに昼ごはんをつくろう。(X中）
= I am going to make lunch while my child is sleeping.

Hi Maggie Sensei,
I received the following message on an instagram post:
ぜひフォローさせてください.
Since I don’t speak Japanese, I checked on google translate but it gave me two translations depending on the target language I choose!
Could you please give me a hint about the meaning? And what would be the most appropriate answer to give?
Thanks a lot in advance.

Hello Maggie-sensei,
I don’t understand the use of “でずが” in the following sentence, because it doesn’t really seem to mean “is” in this context and it also doesn’t look like a politeness-marker to me:

“現在、東南アジアをはじめ南米、ヨーロッパ、アフリカなど世界80か国以上の国で食べられているカップラーメンですが、皆さんはこれが日本でできたということを知っていましたか。”
(Everbody, did you know that the Cupramen, that is nowadays being eaten in east-asia, america, europe, afrika and more than 80 countries is made in Japan?)(<= My interpretation of the sentence)

It seems like the "これ" is refferencing the first relative sentence with the "です", but i dont really understand why they use "です" in this context.

Hello Tom,
Your translation is good and natural.
This ですが means “as for”. You bring up the topics first and explain in the following sentence.
So this is not natural but the literal translation will be..
As for the Cupramen which is eaten ~~~~ countries, did you all know they(= Cupramens) are made in Japan?

Other example

明日の会議ですが、何時に始まりますか？
(The topics is tomorrow meeting)
= (literal translation) As for the tomorrow meeting, what time does it start?
= What time does the meeting tomorrow start?

こんにちは、Maggie先生!
お久しぶりです。
I am reviewing my N4 lessons and I saw these sentences:
一人でこの荷物を「の」は無理です。
絵を描く「の」が下手です。
薬を飲む「の」を忘れました。
Can you please explain the use of 「の」 in all 3 sentences? Is it possible to give the same meaning if I omit 「の」?
If you already made a lesson about this, I apologize for being redundant.
Anyways, keep safe always and thank you.

2/ 冬が来て、冬の風は君をふるえさせるだろう。でも心配しないで、僕はいるから。
僕がいるから is better. The rest is good.

3/あの日の記念、覚えているの？
You don’t say 記念 here..How about just あの日のこと覚えている？
愛の言葉を言ったあの日。
→talk about I would say 愛を語り合ったあの日。
雨の中に僕たち二人一緒にしたあの瞬間。
→Following the English translation: 雨の中、僕たち二人が一緒にいたあの瞬間を (I would just leave the sentence with を on purpose. This sentence goes to the first sentence 覚えている？）

I hope you are fine. Thanks as always for your work, it’s very helpful !

Could you please help me with the following sentence ?
宣伝力があるマスコミにアピールした方が、色々な人に興味を持ってもらえるのではないでしょうか。
While I understand every word and the meaning of the sentence, I’m not sure about how “方が” is used here. Usually, after it, there is an adjective but here it’s a whole sentence ! Moreover, it doesn’t look like a comparison…

Hi Sarah
First you know how to use
~V方がいい = It will be better if you do ~/You’d better do ~

“V1した方がV2” means “In order to do V2, it will be better/more effective to do V1”
Let’s make your sentence short so that you can see the structure.
マスコミにアピールした方が、色々な人に興味を持ってもらえる
If we (or you) appeal to the media, we(you) get people to become interested more.

先生、教えてください。I am struggling to understand something spoken by an old person who has a style of speaking that I’m not very familiar with. The sentence is: はよ座らんか I am assuming that it is something like an offer to sit down. Could you please help me understand this sentence? What would it be in “normal” Japanese?

As always, thank you so much for your fantastic site. I am almost done with a personal translation project I chose to do to challenge and improve my Japanese. Your site has been a great help and I am truly appreciative. You are so kind to not only provide so much wonderful information, but to even personally help anyone who asks. 心からありがとうございます。

V１ようでV２ない →It may look V1 but actually not V2/ You might think V1 but actually not V2
V2ないようでV1 →It may not look V2 but V1/ You might think not V2 but actually V1
見ているようで見ていない~ →見ているように見えるかもしれないけれども実は見ていない
(We may think /It appears that we are paying attention to “the work” but actually we are not (paying attention)”

a/2倍の金額を払ってでもそのコンサートのチケットがほしい。
Good!
The speaker wants to get a ticket even paying double.
b/ 2倍の金額を払ってまでそのコンサートのチケットがほしい。
てまで is usually used in a negative sentence.
For example
→2倍の金額を払ってまでそのコンサートに行きたくない。

先生、こんにちは！! Thank you so much for your wonderfully helpful site! I am having trouble understanding ずっこけて. The verb ずっこける appears to have various meanings, but I was wondering if there were possibly any slang or non-dictionary meanings I could be missing. Additionally, もっとなんかこう has been causing me some struggle. I know なんか can be a filler word, so I’m thinking this phrase could be translated as “more like this” or “more of this.” Am I on the right track? 本当にありがとうございました！

ずっこける is a casual way to say こける which is mainly used in Kansai area and it means 転ぶ (korobu) to fall, fall down, stumble, trip
ずっ is added to emphasize the action of falling down.
It also implies the gesture of falling down on purpose when you hear something unexpected or ridiculous in a funny way.
I don’t know how long this video will be there but I will show you a good example of ずっこけ gesture from Yoshimoto Theater in Osaka.
Click this link.

So you use this expression in daily conversation when you hear something ridiculous or unexpected.
ずっこけそうになった・ずっこけた, etc. = I didn’t see it was coming.

なんかこう…is used when you looking for a right word.. (somehow)
もっとなんかこう I don’t know what but is there anything better such as….

You said at the top that you don’t translate lyrics, (eek), but would you mind translating one word for me that happens to come from a song? I’m trying to understand why in the Tale of Princess Kaguya the children sing まわって お日さん 呼んでこい – what is the こい doing here after ? Anyway, sorry to bother you, and don’t answer this if it does break your guidelines.

Hello there,
１０年も日本に住んでいるだけあって、日本のことをよく知っている
１０年も日本に住んでいるだけに、日本のことをよく知っている
In this case you can say both だけあって and だけに and they are both the same meaning.

The slight difference is
(A) だけあって (B)
(A) is something positive and (B) is something you can expect from (A)

(A) だけに(B)
Besides the same usage that I mentioned above, you also use だけに to express something negative or unexpected
When you heard some negative news about her regardless you knew she was trying so hard, you say
彼女ががんばっているのを知っていただけに残念だ。

忘れようがない also means “There is no way that I forget about ~ ”
but どころではない is used to bring up some extreme example and says “It is far from (that) ”
Ex. 今、仕事どころではない。
There is no way that I can think of work right now.
the speaker’s situation is far from work.

ようがない means “impossible to do something”
Ex. そうとしか答えようがない。
= It is impossible to answer other than that.

I don’t check your English translation but give you the general idea, OK?

So you got the idea of the first part. The last part 何かを届けるのがアイドルなんだって思って”
The literal meaning of 何かを届ける is “deliver something” but here it means idol is the one who gives fans something (intangible) such as dream, pleasure, hope, etc.

As for the second part I think you got the idea. Just which part is “connected to her”?

The original verb is 追う =おう = ou = to chase, to follow someone
追え=おえ=oe is a command form and よ is a suffix that you attach after the command form to emphasize the meaning.
It is for male speech.
So 追えよ = Why don’t you follow / go after/ chase + someone

I’m sorry to bother you with this, I’m not sure if this counts as a difficult question or not, but I’m not really sure where to find the answer to this one. I have a Japanese acquaintance who I chat with and he corrects me sometimes, but this correction he recently gave me is confusing me on the particle “も”. He’s not a teacher so he can only correct me on what sounds more natural without going into detail.

「そうか、前作のどうぶつの森もそうだったね。子供の頃は時間を進めたけど、今はそんなことをしてもつまらないと思ってるよ。」

I thought that the 「今はそんなことをしてもつまらないと思ってるよ。」 part would sound like “Even if I do that it’s boring,” implying “Animal Crossing is boring even if I advance the time in it,” but my acquaintance says that’s not the case. I’m not sure how you determine what も hints at and what it doesn’t.

Hi Argillite,
I don’t know the previous dialogue so it is hard to interpret “そう” in the first sentence.
Your interpretation could be right depending on the context but it could be just “advancing time” is boring now.
今はそんなことをしてもつまらないと思ってるよ。
It used to be fun or interesting to advance the time when I was a child but even if I advance the time, I found it boring.

Sensei.
Can you explain to me about meaning オフ感.
What i only know オフ is off and 感 is feeling, emotion etc.
but オフ感?
I try to search it in google but nothing.
Please give me explanation and example.
Thank you sensei

Hi Just K
オフ is from an English word “Off” (the state of not working: day-off, after work, after school)
感 is “feeling, atmosphere, impression, touch”
So オフ感 is the word to describe the way someone is relaxed being away from work (Ex. wearing casual clothes, not wearing heavy make up, chilling out, etc.)

For example celebrities take selfies in their private time. They look more relaxed in the picture.
Those picture are オフ感ある写真

(1) No, you don’t say 言ったながらも （If you are talking about the third person, 言いながら works)
(2) Yes. 値段は安いが質はいい is more common in conversation but you can say both, ものの、ながらも.
(3) 4月とはいうものの、まだ暖かくない。 OK
4月でありながらも、まだ暖かくない。I guess it’s OK
It would be more natural to mention something unusual for April more clearly, though.

Ex. ４月でありながら気温は30度まで上がった。

The cases that you use ながら(も) but not ものの

Ex. この子は、子供ながらよく物事を理解している。
If you want to use ものの、you have to change the form a little.
Ex. この子は、子供とはいうものの、よく物事を理解している。

石鹸をつける to put the soap (on a sponge,etc.) / apply soap to a cloth
つける is a general word when you apply liquid, cream or foam on something.
石鹸をのせる which you rarely use but it means “to place the soap on something”

Hello Maggie sensei!
I’ve been busy lately but I set some time aside today to practice my Japanese 😊
Can I ask about 聞こえる? It is intransitive but I see it being used very often in places where I thought the transitive 聞く would be used-
部屋から大き声が聞こえた。
その音、聞こえたか?
Maybe it is because I am thinking about it like English, where you would say Did you hear that?, which is active.
Could you please explain why they use 聞こえる? Thank you!! 🥰🥰

They mean the same.
夏の天候次第で米の収穫量が変わる
夏の天候によって米の収穫量が変わる
So when the result changes depending on something, you can use 次第／よって
But you can’t say
好みは人によって異なる。
（x 人次第）
Or when you talking about the cause
不注意によって起きた事故
X 次第

(You might have already read it but Please check my 次第 lesson for the other usages of 次第)

Hello Frozenheart,
(1) and (2) are OK and they mean the same. (2) is more casual.
They both involves the speaker’s strong feeling such as distrust in this case.
Also you can add “来るわけがない”
(3) is a little different from (1) and (2)
はず is used based on the past record.
It would be more natural with affirmative form
時間どうりに来るはずだ
If you say 来ないはずだ。 it means he is not supposed to be here on time.

Sorry. I don’t do the translation here. Is it a quote from Minao’s blog?
I will give you the gist just for this time.
I get more motivated when the wind is against me. I definitely want to make it happen.”

Hello Maggie sensei! It seems recently I have been thinking a lot about the difference nuances between words meaning the same thing… It can be hard to understand when you’re not a native speaker!
I was wondering what the difference between 気分、感じ and 気がする is? It seems when I want to say certain things I feel like one is better to use over the others, but I’m not sure why exactly!

For example:
何か甘い物食べたい気がする。
こうやったら感じが良いですよ。
今日の気分はあまり良くないんだ。。。

It kind of seems instinctively there are different times to use each, but I wanted to know if I’m doing it wrong (?!) or anything!

Well, I started reading Harry Potter in Japanese and right in the beginning I came across the sentence:
“ずんぐりと肉づきがよい体型のせいで、そのかわり巨大な口ひげが目立っていた。”
I can’t really understand what そのかわり means here. I think it means “instead”, but I doesn’t seem correct in this context.
My translation would be like: “Due to the squat and well-fledged body, instead, a huge mustache was noticeable.”
Without そのかわり it would be perfect, but with it I feel like there’s something wrong.

関わりなく and 問わず both mean “regardless”
The basic difference is you use 問わず is only used with a noun.
And the following verbs of 問わず tend to be non-volitional verbs but of course, there are lots of exceptions.

As for your example sentences, (今度の旅行べ must be a typo. →旅行へ)
Both of the sentences are OK but I would say 1) is more natural.
問わず literally means “問わない= not to ask for something/ ~ is not required ” So you often use it when you talk about some conditions.
In classified ad for job, you often see
Ex. 年齢・学歴を問わず
Ex. 性別問わず

Hi Maggie sensei! 🥰
Today I wanted to use 止し, as in to say that you stopped halfway through something, but I just realised I don’t know how to use it…
I read it somewhere before and then marked it down as being useful, but actually I didn’t write down the example sentence and I have no idea how to use it… Could you please help me?? 😣
I wanted to know how to say you stopped in the middle of writing because of an interruption maybe, or something like that!

I looked at the lesson and actually learnt something new!! But I couldn’t find something like what I was looking for… I thought 止し was more like a suffix…?
Please help me if you could!! 😣
Thank you so much! 😊

Ahhh, OK! Sorry. All this time, I thought 止し was a typo and you meant the suffix of し
Now I get it. You were talking about V止し= Vさし
OK, when you have been doing something and stop doing that, you use 止し
The verbs that you can use 止し is limited.
There are the common ones.
食べさし a half-eaten food
読みさしの本 a half-read book
タバコの吸いさし cigarette butt

Oh it’s okay, thanks so much!! 😊😊 I guess people usually use hiragana then? So さし instead of 止し?

Is there a way to know which verbs you can use it with and which you can’t?? If I wanted to say something active instead of passive like ‘I was reading this book halfway then stopped because the bus came’, or something like that, would it be 本を読みさしで、バスが来たのでやめた?

止し/さし You can use kanji but hiragana might be more common.
You use it more to modify a noun or describe something is half-way.
読みさしの本
この本は読みさしだ。

As I said the verbs that you use さし is very limited (読む・飲む・食べる・吸う）
To know whether you use it or not, you can use the search with Google or Twitter. Type the verb with さし and see the result.

The common way to use 〜さし is to describe a noun. 読みさしの本、食べさしのピザ、タバコの吸いさし
I would use かけ for the following example
読みさしで、バスが来たのでやめた?
本を読みかけたらバスが来たので（読むのを）やめた。
〜かけ is more general and the verbs that you can use かけ is more than さし

Okay, I think I am understanding more!
Would it be because さし already means ‘half done’, so using it in an active way just doesn’t really make sense?? If I think about it that way I think I understand…
So 食べさしのケーキ and things like that are fine? I guess there aren’t many times you’d use さし then?!
And thank you so much for telling me about かけ！Now I know what to use 😊🥰

Hello!
1/ 僕のそぼにいると決めるにしても離れると決めるにしても、君は毎日幸せに笑うのが一番大切です。
For the verb 決める、the past tense is better 僕のそぼにいると決めたとしても離れると決めたとしても
Or simply 僕のそばにいるにしても離れる(or 別れる）にしても
The second part: How about
君が毎日幸せそうに笑っているのが一番大切です?

Yes,there is a difference. 〜そう can be used for what you heard (聞きました） and also for what you read.
For example, if you read some review of a restaurant in a magazine or website, you can say あの店は美味しいそうです。

Oops, sorry, my phrasing was pretty awful there… I meant to ask, is there a reason you can’t use そうです if you specify who said it? Like if I heard someone from someone in particular, eg 田中さん why can’t I use そうです? Is that just how it is…? 🤔🤔

Because generally そうです is used when you focus on the information (what you heard or read) more than specifying the source of the information.
If you want to specify the source you say
田中さんが〜と言っていました。
田中さんから〜と聞きました。

Maggie先生とYukariさん、こんにちは！
I’ve been on your site a bunch of times and this is my first comment ever.
Thank you so much for your lessons, they really helped with my studies and I was able to pass N5 last year. I’m still using your lessons to try to pass N4 this year, too.

I also want to ask if you have any tips for speaking Japanese smoothly? I sound like a robot when I read Japanese aloud, and I stutter a lot when just conversing. I can imagine the words in my head, I just can’t seem to say them out loud. LOL!
Any suggestion or advice will be greatly appreciated.

First of all, congratulations! You passed N5 last year. I am sure you will pass N4 this year!
がんばってくださいね！

The best way to improve your speaking skill is to have Japanese friends (in person or on line) but if it is difficult, work on your listening first and then mimic what you hear.
It may not work for everyone but “shadowing technique” , you listen to Japanese phrase and repeat what you heard may work.
You can use youtube video, Netflix or Hulu and watch Japanese shows. Watch one scene again and again and repeat it.

May I request a lesson? Or, if it’s easy and short to explain, just a comment!

I’m a bit confused about きっかけ and the sentence structure to use it. I’ve seen をきっかけに, はきっかけで and a couple more variants, with different grammatical structures and a little different meanings. Can you help me please? お願いします！☆

Sure, I can make a lesson of きっかけ but it may take some time so I will give you a short explanation.

Aをきっかけに you did something.
Aがきっかけで something happened/you did something.

A triggers the consequence/Because of A ~ / taking advantage of opportunity
For example, you read an interesting book and that book made you decide to go to Japan, you say
この本を読んだのをきっかけに日本に行くことにした。
この本がきっかけで日本に行くことにした。

When something happened and that triggers something,

彼と初めて喧嘩をした。それをきっかけに二人の間は気まずくなった。
= Since I got fight with my boyfriend for the first time, our relationship got awkward.

I asked a question before about using に after a name, and you said it gave a feeling of ‘even’, like 私にできること= something even I can do. And you said you wouldn’t generally put it after a boss’ name as they are higher up than you! I am sorry, can you remind me again- it’s not insulting to use に after someone else’s name, right…?

I read this sentence today: おまえにそんな義理がないだろうが。。。 and was wondering why there is a に after おまえ instead of が or は??

Hello Jasmine!
ひさしぶり！ 元気でしたか？
I tried to find your question regarding 私にできること but I couldn’t find it. (Sorry. There are so many questions here so..)
So I don’t remember in what context I told you that but for example, when you ask someone if they can do something or not,

これ、(someone)にできますか？ means “Are you capable to do this?” and it sounds like you are looking down on that person.

**
As for おまえにそんな義理がないだろうが
Yes, you can say ・お前は義理がある お前は義理はない。

に is a location marker and indicates the place or where something belongs to.

You can say
Aさんは音楽の才能があります。A-san has musical talent
But let’s rephrase this sentence. “musical talent” belongs to A-san / Musical talent exists in A-san.
Aさんには音楽の才能があります。（You add は to show the contrast)

It depends on your relationship and how you tell the sentence.
You can say that with your close friends or family jokingly.

For example when you worry about someone can do something or not,
Ex. ~にできるかな？ Fine
Ex. ~にできるか心配だよ。Fine
But if you doubt if that person is capable to do something or not
Ex. ~にできるの？ might sound a little cold.

Hullo!!
Okay, I think I understand now!! Yes, I think it is similar to how it is in English. :)) Thank you so much for explaining it- I always wonder how many rude things I’ve accidentally said to people… 😣

AばAほどB The more A changes, the more B changes.(Focusing on the degree)
AにつれてB If A changes, B will eventually change (The change of A causes B)
AにしたがってB When A changes, B changes following the change of A

Sure
First your sentence 太陽がなくなっての地球の存在
You don’t modify a noun (地球） with V-te form + の
And 存在 is a noun but your English translation is a verb, “to exist” which is 存在する.
In order to modify the verb 存在する, you have to change the part “without the sun”
So the literal translation of 太陽がなくなってからも存在する地球のようだ。
is “It’s like the earth which exists even after the sun disappears. “

1) Who gave me the gloves (focusing on the giver)
2) how you got the gloves. (focusing on the receiver)
You can’t tell the subtle difference from the English translation but you can express your appreciation towards the giver, in this case “mother”, more with 1) くれた (implies the feelings such as “It is so nice of her to buy me gloves” “I am so happy.” ” I am very grateful”, etc.)

Thanks a lot for such a quick response, Maggie Sensei!
早く答えてくれてありがとうございます。

So to sum it up,
if I just mention my gloves, like, by the way and go on with the conversation, it’s more natural to use もらう,
but if I want to emphasize the joy I felt when I got my gloves, or positive emotions I feel whenever I put them on, etc. I should use くれる?

if I am talking with someone else about the present my friend got, which verb would sound more natural: くれる or もらう?
e.g.
1)彼氏がみきちゃんに指輪をくれた。Miki’s boyfriend gave her a ring.
2)みきちゃんは彼氏に指輪をもらった。Miki got a ring from her boyfriend.

I also read when you are talking about two people (one of them is close to you, and the other is not), one is giving, the other is receiving, it’s supposed to be like that:
3) みきちゃんはAさんに本をあげた。Miki gave the book to Mr A. -> I should emphasize that Miki is closer to me than Mr A using あげる
4) Aさんがみきちゃんに本をくれた。Mr A gave the book to Miki.-> I should emphasize that Miki is closer to me than Mr A using くれる
Is this still in use or already outdated?

Again, thank you soo much for helping me and for all great work you do on a daily basis! It is really invaluable for Japanese learners.

No question here. I just wanted to say I have been living in rural japan studying Japanese where not many people speak English. Every time I have a question you have already answered it, and you have the best explanations out of any other websites. You really are a life saver. Thank you so much!

First of all,
今回の事件は、何か詳しいことがわかりましたか。works if you show the contrast. Maybe not other incident but what about this incident? (It means “As for this incident)
You can also say
→今回の事件で、何か詳しいことがわかりましたか？ It means “In this incident” or “by this incident”)

ずっと for a long time/ forever
When you are talking about something in the past

Ex. ずっとマギーのことが好きでした。 = I have liked you for a long time.／I have always liked you, Maggie.
Ex. バスをずっと待っているがなかなか来ない。＝ I have been waiting for a bus but it’s taking a time to come.
Ex. これからもずっと一緒にいてください。= Please stay with me forever.